High School Sports

Aptos High last week announced that Johnny Velez was named the new head coach for both the boys’ and girls’ wrestling teams. The 31-year-old Aptos High alum is replacing long time coach Rudy Guzman who retired at the end of the 2023-24 season. Guzman was an...

Watsonville’s softball team survived a late scare to hold off Alisal for a 6-5 victory in non-league action March 7.  Mia Espinoza had three hits including one double, one RBI and one run scored for the Wildcatz, while teammates Esperanza Sigala and Isabella Ruiz each...

APTOS—Ella Giguiere and Lauren Ambiel each recorded double-doubles to help the Cabrillo College women’s basketball team beat Feather River College, 77-72, in overtime in non-conference action on Dec. 22. Giguiere finished with 25 points, 16 rebounds and five assists, and Ambiel had 24 points, 15...

Monte Vista Christian senior Dominic Pierini finished with 400 yards passing and four touchdowns for the Mustangs football team in a 49-28 non-league loss to Piedmont Hills High on Aug. 30.   The star quarterback also had two interceptions and two fumbles lost. “That was kind of...

Watsonville sophomore Noel Navarro had three rushing touchdowns, and the Wildcatz defeated Monte Vista Christian, 42-41, in Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division-North football action Friday night. “This whole season he battled to get in the end zone and once that second time we called...

The Pajaro Valley High girls’ soccer team had a chance to separate themselves further from Soledad High in the league standings going into last week’s showdown. And after 80 minutes of competing on a wet semi-muddy grass pitch, the Grizzlies found themselves moving just slightly...

FRESNO—Monte Vista Christian senior James Ponzio climbed his way to a top-10 finish in last week’s CIF State Cross Country Championships.    The Hollister native placed eighth in 15 minutes, 39.8 seconds out of 204 runners in the Division V boys race at Woodward Park on...

After an impressive Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship run, Aptos earned the top seed in this year’s Central Coast Section Division II playoffs.  The Mariners (15-2-1)—winners of five straight—will host No. 8 Homestead (8-7-4) in the teams’ quarterfinals match on Saturday at 11am.  “The girls,...

Watsonville High senior Katelynn Ruiz was trailing the lead runner during last week’s Pacific Coast Athletic League Cross Country Championships until she reached the second hill at Palo Corona Park.  That’s when she saw a chance to pick up her pace and outrun the rest...

The magical season for St. Francis’ girls’ soccer team came to an end following a 5-1 loss to North Monterey County in the Central Coast Section play-in game Tuesday afternoon.  Andrea Ibarra, Anahi Flores, Isa Valadez, Herendira Navoa and Bella Hernandez each scored once for...